Reuse An Old Soda Bottle To Turn Your Dull Backyard Into A Haven For Birds

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Have you ever dreamed of turning your backyard and garden into a bird haven? There's nothing quite as enjoyable as looking out the window and watching all the pretty birds that are visiting your space. Of course, one of the best ways to attract loads of birds is to have some feeders that you fill with seed to lure those feathered visitors in. While you could go out and buy some prefabricated bird feeders or DIY one from scrap wood, why not follow YouTuber Bobbi Jo's example and make your own by reusing an old soda bottle? Let's face it — that bottle is only going to end up in the recycling bin anyway, so with this project, you'll be putting it to good use and keeping those visiting birds well-fed at the same time.

Before you get started with this DIY feeder, you'll want to gather all your supplies. You need a 2-liter soda bottle, a plastic plate, some floral wire, a pair of scissors or a utility knife, and your trusty glue gun. If you don't have a plastic plate, you can easily pick one up from Dollar Tree for around $1.50. Floral wire can also be found at Dollar Tree, crafting stores, or online retailers — this Zeanla Green Floral Wire 3 Pack from Amazon gives you plenty of length for future projects for under $8. Depending on the size of the roll, this could cost you as little as $1.75. Of course, you could use ordinary wire if you have that handy, or even heavy-duty twine or string. With some smart shopping, this simple but practical bird feeder will cost you less than $5 to make at home.

Make sure you wash your soda bottle and remove the lid. Put some hot glue on the top of the lid and then position it in the center of the plastic plate. Using your scissors or knife, cut three or four holes in the soda bottle, around ½ inch below the top. If you have a soldering iron handy, this will make creating those holes really easy, but you could also heat a thick nail or metal skewer over a candle and poke this through the bottle. It's a good idea to wear gloves to protect your fingers if you're going to heat your hole-making implement. Regardless of the chosen method, ensure that you make the holes large enough for the seed to come through easily. You also want to make two holes opposite each other near the bottom of the bottle so that you can insert the wire for hanging.

Thread your floral wire through the two holes and join the ends securely to make your hanger. You can put a dab of hot glue around the holes to hold the wire more securely. To complete your soda bottle feeder, fill the bottle with seed and screw the lid that's attached to the plate back on the bottle. Turn it upside down and hang it outside. This is such a quick and easy project that you could make multiple feeders to hang around your backyard. You could suspend them from tree branches, attach them to plant hangers, or grab one of the Feed Garden Shepherd Hooks for mounting in your lawn. There's even an affordable IKEA solution that makes hanging bird feeders a breeze: the HULTARP hooks.